Mountain Goat Hunt
Gear and Equipment

Footwear

Only The Best Boots.

Boots are your single most important piece of gear. Without your feet in good condition, you cannot effectively hunt. Wear your boots, hike in them while wearing a heavy pack, and use them prior to your hunt (this does not mean walking around the yard or golf course). Poorly fitting boots will at best make you miserable and at worst completely ruin your hunt. There is no “best boot” – everyone’s foot is different. What is great for some may be terrible for others.  Below is a list of high-quality boots that have always given me and the majority of my clients consistently good results. Try them and wear them!

• Quality Mountaineering Boots: I recommend Lathrop & Sons Mountain Hunter Elite with L&S custom footbeds as the surest choice for a boot that will fit your foot. Other great options are Kenetrek Mountain Extreme non-insulated, Lowa Tibet Hi GTX, Crispi Briksdal Pro GTX, Scarpa Ribelle Tech 3.0, and Schnee’s Granite. There are many other options.
• Insoles: L&S Custom Synergy Orthotics, Superfeet Green or TrailComfort, and Spenco Original Total Support.
• Gaiters: Kuiu Yukon Gaiter or Peax Storm Castle Gaiter.
• Camp Shoes: We use these for crossing creeks or rivers to keep our boots dry. The two best options are Crocs Classic Clogs or the Merrel Hydro Moc
• Wool Socks: I recommend at least 6 pairs of the highest quality sock such as Darn Tough Heavyweight Hunting Sock, Kuiu Strongwool Hybrid Crew Sock, and Smartwool Full Cushion Tall Crew Sock.
• Sock Liners (optional): I personally prefer to use sock liners, but this is more of a personal preference item. They are great to help reduce hot spots and keep your socks dry and clean. Injinji Liner Crew Wool or Synthetic Socks (3 pairs).
• Puffy Booties (optional): These are great after a long day of hiking to slip on and keep your feet warm while back at the tent. They are also great to sleep in. I like the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Booties.
• Crampons: Essential for hiking on steep, slick, grassy slopes and trails, and for safe footing in rugged goat country. I suggest hiking crampons that strap onto your boots and NOT “microspikes” held on with a rubber bungee-type harness, which are not acceptable for this type of terrain. The best options are: Petzl Leopard Fl, Black Diamond Contact Strap, or Kahtoola K10 Hiking Crampon.

Base Layer

Absolutely NO COTTON!

I prefer lightweight merino wool or merino/synthetic blend for its ability to avoid stinking and its excellent breathability and insulation.

• Lightweight Short Sleeve Merino Wool T-Shirts (2): Kuiu Ultra Merino 120 LT SS Crew-T or Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Crew SS.
• Underwear Bottoms (4 pairs): Exofficio Give-N-Go Boxer Brief, Kuiu Ultra Merino Boxer Brief, or Stone Glacier Chinook Merino. Boxer.
• Lightweight Top (1): Simms Solarflex Bugstopper Hoody, Kuiu Gila Hoody or Simms Bugstopper Hoody.
• Lightweight Merino Wool Bottoms (2 pairs): Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Bottoms, Smartwool Classic All-Season Bottom or Ibex Woolie Pro-Tech.

Mid Layer

Hoody and Pant.

• Mid Weight Merino Wool or Fleece Hoody (1): I’ll wear this over my base layer or lightweight top. I prefer hoodies which offer a little better concealment from goat eyes. I like to go a little on the heavier side for these due to the months we hunt Goats. Some great options are the Kuiu StrongFleece 235, Sitka Ambient Hoody, Black Diamond Alpine Start Insulated Hoody, or Stone Glacier Helio Hoody.
• Pants: Note: Instead of wearing typical soft-shell “hunting pants” we prefer to wear breathable rain pants over the top of lightweight merino wool long underwear bottoms. It is always wet on Kodiak, and you can expect rain, snow, or sleet on any given day. The brush and ground are wet even when it’s nice out, so you will likely get wet pants if you do not wear your rain pants. For this reason, we like to wear top quality breathable rain pants over the lightly insulating and highly breathable merino bottoms and not utilize typical softshell hunting pants. See pant types under “rain gear”.

Insulation Layer

Jacket, Parka, Pant.

I prefer Synthetic Insulation for Goat hunts. Down is a fantastic insulator, compresses better and weighs less than anything synthetic. I certainly prefer it on sheep hunts and in certain situations but even treated “waterproof” down is inferior in wet, humid weather compared to modern synthetics like Primaloft Gold, Climashield Apex, or the many others not noted. These hunts are very wet and you will be damp. Synthetics handle this weather better than down. The choices below are all top-notch synthetic fill.

• Mid-Warmth Puffy Jacket (1): This should weigh about a pound and be highly compressible. This is your most used layer: Sitka Kelvin Aerolite Jacket, Kuiu Kenai Hooded Jacket, Stone Glacier Cirque Jacket, Otte Gear LV Insulated Hooded Jacket.
• Super Warm Puffy Parka (1): Should weigh no more than 2 pounds & be highly compressible: OR Pro Colossus Parka, Kuiu Down Burner Parka, or the Barneys Brooks Range Jacket. Other options are the Kifaru Lost Parka or CANIS Pamir Insulation Jacket.
• Extra Puffy Layer (1 – Optional): Goat hunting can be very cold, especially late-season October and November hunts. For this reason, if you are sensitive to cold temperatures, I recommend a third ultralight weight puffy jacket, in down fill, for weight and space savings. Lots of good options are available, including the following: Kuiu Super Down Pro Hoody, Stone Glacier Grumman Jacket, Sitka Kelvin Lite Down Jacket, First Lite Brooks Down Sweater, and Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisper Jacket.
• Lightweight Puffy Pant (1 Pair): Kuiu Kenai Pant, Arcteryx Nuclei Pant, Rab Photon Pant or Mountain Hardware Compressor Pant.

Rain Gear

Buy Only The best 3 Layer Gore-Tex Type Rain Gear!

• Gore-tex Rain Jacket (1): This is the jacket you will live in all day every day. Kuiu Yukon Jacket (preferred), OR Pro Allies Mountain Jacket, Kuiu Kutana Jacket, Sitka Stormfront Jacket, Arcteyx Alpha SV jacket or Stone Glacier M5 Jacket.
• Gore-tex Rain Pant (1): Kuiu Yukon Pant (preferred), Kuiu Kutana Pant, OR Pro Allies Mountain Pant, Sitka Stormfront Pant, Arcteryx Beta AR pant or Stone Glacier M5 Pant.

Pack

Only High-Quality Packs!

You MUST have a pack that is at a minimum, 7200 Cubic Inches and I prefer 8000-9000 Cubic Inches. Besides your boots, this is your second most important piece of equipment. The pack must fit 7 days of food and gear as well as any personal items. You must be able to comfortably carry 50 lbs. with it. Do not bring a small pack thinking you will have to carry less. A high-volume expedition pack weighs virtually the same as a small pack. You need the larger volume pack for this hunt, no exceptions.

• Stone Glacier Terminus 8700, Exo Mtn Gear K4 7200 and Stone Glacier Sky Guide 7900 as well as the Barneys Pinnacle Pack are all great options.